Advantage And Disadvantage Of Information Technology Essay Sample

What is Technology?

Technology refers to the practical application of scientific knowledge for a purpose. It also includes the capability and skills required to apply the knowledge.

Technology enhances the usefulness of goods and services in a safe manner. It aims at creating value. Technology can be both material and non-material (virtual). Technology includes instruments, tools, machines, and other devices that benefit human life.

Technology may include simple items such as clothing, zip, housing, and complex items such as airplanes, robots, etc. Even the discovery of fire during stone age, and the process of producing light, heat, and cooking food are the examples of technology.

The non-material (virtual) tools and machines such as computer software, internet, etc. are also considered technology.

What are the advantages of Technology?

The advantages of technology are discussed below:

Increased food output: We depend on food for our living. With the introduction of methods and techniques of cultivation, human-beings are able to increase food output. The modern irrigation technologies has helped to cultivate lands that were otherwise considered barren. The agriculture equipment such as tractor helps the farmer in his farming.

Increased industrial output: As a result of introduction of technology in the process of producing goods, there has been tremendous increase in the industrial output. The automation of industries processes has resulted in processing tasks effectively and efficiently. Large industries make good use of engineering technology for large scale production of goods.

Business growth: Technology has positively impacted business activities involving manufacturing, selling, marketing, distribution, recording, etc. Technology has touched almost every sphere of business activities. Businesses need to make wide variety of mathematical calculations for various purposes such as counting, estimation cost and profit, etc. Prior to the introduction of calculators, all these mathematical calculations were done manually. With the introduction of computers, large business data are effectively processed and stored in computers. The growth of eCommerce business is an excellent example of how Information Technology can benefit our life.

Comfort: Technology had made human life comfortable. Everything that we see and use in our daily life is the gift of technology. The clothes we wear, the house we live, the car we travel, the bridge and flyovers, the mobile phone we carry, the fan, etc. are all examples of successful implementation of technology.

Better utilization of resources: Modern tools and equipment has helped us to utilize the natural resources at optimum level. For example, the irrigation technologies has enabled us to make better utilization of water resource in the field of agriculture. Hydel power plants, thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, etc. uses natural resources to generate power.

Ease in travelling: The invention of wheel is perhaps the most important technological discovery in human history. Automobiles, trains, etc. are powered by engine and run on wheels.

Improved communication: Printing press, internet, telephone, email, and other communication technologies has helped us to communicate on global scale.

Education: Virtual classes are a delivered at many schools. E-learning is a relatively new concept. Students make use of internet technology to download important study materials in the form of text, audio and videos.

Healthcare: Technology has revolutionized the healthcare industry. The various diagnostic tools such as x-ray machines, blood pressure monitoring machine, glucose level measuring machine, etc. has made possible accurate diagnosis of health related problems. Accurate diagnosis of disease results in faster and effective treatment of the patient.

Emerging technologies: Emerging technologies such as Information Technology, bio-technology, artificial intelligence, etc. are among the most important technologies of modern times. The introduction of computers, internet, smartphones, etc. have deep impact on common people. Much research are being conducted in the field of artificial intelligence intelligence.

What are the disadvantages of Technology?

The disadvantages of Technology are discussed below:

Pollution: Too much use of technology has resulted in an increase in waste products into the environment. This has caused pollution. The discharge of industrial wastes into the environment diminishes the quality of soil, water, air , etc. The vehicle emission is among major causes of air pollution. Excessive use of pesticides in farming has caused soil erosion.

Faster depletion of natural resource reserves: Modern equipment are very powerful. They can quickly extract huge quantity of natural resources. However, the total reserves of natural resources are depleting as a result of quicker extraction of natural resources.

Production of unwanted products: Technology has also opened doors for the production and demand of unwanted products or unnecessary products.

Wastage of time in non-productive activities: Some people waste immense time and energy in doing non-productive activities. For example, internet technology has enabled people to browse the internet for information. However, some people get addicted to internet activities such as browsing, gaming, etc., and waste time and energy.

Excessive dependency: We are dependent on technology for all of our task. People are excessively dependent of modern gifts of technologies such as cars, computers, smartphones, etc. They feel helpless if any of these technological equipment, machinery or tool fail to perform. We have adopted technology in our life to an extent that it is impossible to think of performing our day-to-day tasks without the help of technology.

Conclusion

Technology has, beyond doubt, eased the life of human-beings. It has proved to b a great boon in the development process of culture and society. However, too much of anything is bad. Technology should be used with due care and caution only for the purposed that are of benefit for humanity.

In the world today, people cannot live without technologies such as televisions, mobile phones, computers and others. These technologies have slowly taken an essential part in people’s day-to-day lives and being without them would be unimaginable for some of us. To understand technology, one must know what it provides in terms of advantages, but also disadvantages.

Advantages of technology

First, the evolution of technology is beneficial to humans for several reasons. At the medical level, technology can help treat more sick people and consequently save many lives and combat very harmful viruses and bacteria.

>See also: Technology is revolutionising the property industry

The invention of the computer was a very important point. Communication is thus enhanced, and companies can communicate more easily with foreign countries. Research is also simplified.

For companies, progress is saving in time and therefore in money. Exchanges are faster especially with the internet. Sales and purchases are now facilitated and possible worldwide. This allows businesses to buy raw materials with discounts or at reduced prices. Similarly, global tourism has grown.

Technology has also increased the productivity of almost every industry in the world. Thanks to technology, we can even pay with bitcoins instead of using banks. The digital coin has been such a game changing factor, that many realised that this is the right time to open a bitcoin demo account.

When observed more closely, new things are discovered every day. Let’s take for instance when radio waves were discovered, radio broadcasts followed suit almost immediately. The same applies to the television and electricity. If no one had discovered that electricity could be generated, then the entertainment industry wouldn’t be at it’s current stage of development.

Technology improves daily lives; allowing to move physical storage units to virtual storage banks and more. Scientists of the time are also able to send astronauts to the moon thanks to technology.

In the modern industrial world, machines carry out most of the agricultural and industrial work and as a result, workers produce much more goods than a century ago and work less. They have more time to exercise and work in safer environments.

Disadvantages and risks of technology

On the other hand, the evolution of modern technology has disadvantages, for example, dependence on new technology. Man no longer needs to think. Even if the calculator is a good invention, man no longer makes mental calculation and no longer works his memory. The decline of human capital implies an increase in unemployment. In some areas, devices can replace the human mind.

The use of technology certainly needs rule and new laws. For example internet use is an individual freedom. However, the invention of the atomic bomb cannot be an individual freedom. In fact, regulations are difficult to implement when these technologies are introduced – such as regulation surrounding the impending arrival of autonomous vehicles.

Finally, as most technological discoveries aim to reduce human effort, it would imply that more work is done by machines. This equates to less work for people: the human is becoming ever so obsolete by the day, as processes become automated and jobs are made redundant.

The negative impact of the influence of technology on children should not be underestimated as well.